We all know their last studio was a disappointment for all, I like to pretend they never made Sorry for Partyin' and instead focused on their
Christmas EP (IMHO)
So when I found out they were making a new album (when they were recording it) I was very nervous that I would have to eventually stop listening to this band and just stick to their old stuff and that EP because in their updates, I saw they same friends/studio people hanging around with them when they recorded their last album...
I then heard two songs that where released early and it got my hopes up a little bit, but I was worried that they would still have their poppy songs that they wrote for their last record (again, seeing how they were working with the same studio people that worked on Sorry for Partyin')... Then today I was bored and did some research on wikipedia. I found this quote that helped release some of my fears about this new album. As I was the type of fan that they mentioned in that article, so I was happy...
- Spoiler: show
Jamie: Well that totally makes sense. I hear that you guys have put your EP back because it sounds like you are pretty close to finishing a full album or something along those lines, is that why you’ve put it back?
Erik: Its all recorded, what’s happened is that we’ve left our record label, so there are things going on in that realm, and I think one of the coolest things that we could have ever done was to record a whole album on our own dime and do it exactly the way we wanted for the very very first time in ten years. There has been no-one outside of the band and the producers that has had any kind of say whatsoever on what we were doing, not even our managers. One of our managers came by the studio one day, he didn’t even go into the control room. He was passing through to go pick up his family to go on vacation and he stopped by and hung out for like thirty minutes in the lounge. He didn’t ask to hear anything didn’t wanna hear anything, just said hi, and it’s the only time that it’s gone down like this and we’ve made an amazing Bowling For Soup album, its very core to the sound of Bowling For Soup. On the last couple of albums, not saying that we got away from it but we used a lot of tricks and trinkets in the studio and decidedly for this album it was lets get it back down to two guitars, bass and drums. We still have the tricks and trinkets and whatever, “the candy for the kids†as we call it but it’s a lot more two guitars, bass and drums driven and it feels very cool, it feels very much like a 2002 – 2004 Bowling For Soup sound.
Link to artcle
Wiki basically summarized this nicely
Sound
Reddick stated in his ninth podcast that fans of Drunk Enough to Dance and A Hangover You Don't Deserve will like the album. Bassist/vocalist Erik Chandler said in an interview with Rocksins.com, that the album "feels very much like a 2002-2004 Bowling for Soup sound."[3]
Anyway, here are the songs that they released so far... My opinions will be put in spoiler tags, I rather you listen and get a feel for the music first before my views taint yours.
- Spoiler: show
- First song they released early, this sounds so much like the sound I fell in love with. A little bit of texas music and alternative rock (do not want to get into a genre debate =/) Lyrically I think this song could be considered weak and seen as a college fratboy life style song...
- Spoiler: show
- A song that matches the sound of that last one, but heavier... I like how they managed the lyrics in this song and I could see it as a ballad =P
Featuring
Kay Hanley for the chorus
- Spoiler: show
- At first you expect an old styled 2002-2004 bfs song sprinkled with bits of perkiness... Well it does have perkiness, it just remind me of an 80's pop music and I really enjoyed that music when I was little
Overall, I am pretty optimistic about this album and sure I will enjoy it.
